Lessons of the End Times
by BottleofJellyBeans
Summary: The group has traveled to finish the jewel, but the group is falling apart. Can they survive the challenges facing them, or will the interal struggle break everything apart?


Hello

Hello. This is my first story on FanFiction. I hope you enjoy. Just a couple of things and I'll get started:

**Summary: **In addition to the one given, you should know that this story will be pretty Kagome-centered. I will use a few original characters, but mostly as foils or to dish out advice feel free to tell me if I'm using them too much and it gets annoying. But basically this is a story about Kagome learning to deal with the group's relationships, and, thusly, there won't be a specific pairing. Watch out for some fluff, though.

WARNING: Not all of you will be happy with what happens to the characters. It's all for a reason, though, I super swear.

**Time: **I'm thinking pre-Band of Seven. Definitely before all that crazy "Naraku's baby" and "Kikyo's fake death" stuff.

**Rating: **More as a precaution than anything. Just so I won't have to worry about language/violence/slight sexual.

**Disclaimer: **My parents gave me a television that will sometimes show me Inuyasha on Saturdays, but that's about all I own. I also don't make any money here, just minimum-wago at my job.

Lessons of the End Times

Chapter 1

She had forgotten that demons could just come out of the blue. After the first fiasco, the first demon to grab her from the present and drag her into a well, wiggling and squirming through the haze, demons had lost their shock value. It all seemed so commonplace, so everyday now. Pathetic demons would be slaughtered when they'd jump out demanding jewel shards, and anyone with any power would eventually lead them back to Naraku: a distraction from Naraku, an assassin hired by Naraku, a signal from Naraku, some helpless shrew implanted with a tainted shard from Naraku, or, God forbid, another one of Naraku's spawn. It seemed as if they had passed through the same towns with the same problems and fought the same demons again and again and again. But as the seasons eventually burst from one to another, change came. Which was fitting, this being a new season ripe for the unexpected.

It was summer, and some surprise was to be reintroduced into Kagome's life.

Somehow, she had gained the last month of her freshman year to cram everything in. Through many "negotiations" with Inuyasha and fantastical promises to Shippo, she had secured an elongated vacation from the Feudal Era for school. Not the best of trades, but a necessary one. Inuyasha had even stopped coming to bother her after nights of epic shout-outs during pocky-fueled all-nighters. She supposed that was an advantage, although she would take a break around eleven each night to look for the flash of silver outside her window that was never there. Finals, though more complex and frustrating than any of Naraku's mad scientist schemes, were taken, and though her hopes at the beginning of the year to reach the 98th percentile were laughable now, she had passed, and now had the entire summer vacation to finish the jewel and take on her sophomore year with full steam.

Kagome had convinced herself this is what she really, really wanted.

Her friends were aghast that they would have absolutely no contact with her over the summer. They had apparently made plenty of plans for her ("You and Hojo were going to have a summer romance at the beach!" "I was going to tutor you back up to the 96th percentile, Kagome." "I thought we were applying to WacDonalds together!") They agreed that an all-expense scholarship to a rehabilitation and educational typhoid spa in Venezuela would be for the best.

_Venezuela? Typhoid? _Kagome could not figure out where her grandfather got his ideas. It could be worse, though. He could just tell her friends she had diphtheria and smallpox the whole summer.

Her mother tried her hardest to transform her backpack into a mini-house, stuffing in backup clothes, bedding, soap, toothpaste, medical supplies, and triple the usual food take. She already knew that this would not be enough, and hidden away on the side of her bag where pamphlets distinguishing poisonous plants from edible ones, and the preparation of various game. Kagome flipped through them, surprised at how much she already knew. She thanked her mom profusely, though, and blanched at what she saw next.

"Now Kagome, I know you're a smart girl, and that you're going to be very busy in the Feudal Era, but you will have some down-time so I just thought…Kagome, you can do what you wish, but I want you to remember you're a Higurashi, and hopefully that will keep you on the right path this summer."

Kagome blushed and softly thanked her mom, shoving the item in her bag and trying to ignore the words"Fool-Proof Guide to the Dreaded Geometry: For Ages 8 to 80!" She knew she needed it, though, flashing back to her final. Which theorem justified addition, and which was the one that stated a number was itself?

Souta looked away while she packed, but once done he erupted in blur of "Be careful and don't work too hard and remember everything so you can tell me and get all the details from the fights and tell Inuyasha hi and maybe bring me a souvenir this time and…"

Kagome bent down and put a finger to her brother's lips, but before any reassurances could be made he was hugging her and she was shushing him and stroking his hair. "Just make it back, okay?" he eventually asked, and Kagome promised to.

Her grandfather insisted on performing a good luck ceremony, and although Kagome doubted that chanting mantras, burning incense, and being splashed with "holy rice water" would bring her any luck, it was a kind gesture. She stood at the edge of the well delaying for every possible moment with her family, but eventually cut everything short with a goodbye over her shoulder. Kagome knew if she stayed any longer Inuyasha would come bursting through and destroy the moment, yell at her, be rude to her family, and drag her off without a goodbye. Somehow, in his trips to the future Inuyasha had turned from a knight in shining armor to a cursing alarm clock, drawing her back to reality. When she touched down in the Feudal Era and saw his face looming at the top of the well, she found herself still glad to see him.

He grabbed her pack and inquired about its increased girth ("Are you bringing the entire future back with you, or did you decide to leave behind a couple of your 'movies' and 'bus stops' and 'couches'?"). At the top, Shippo pounced at her in a squeal of glee before hopping over to her backpack to salvage promised treasures. Kagome looked up, surprised to see Miroku and Sango waiting for you, smiling distance smiles. Lady Kaede was there as well with several villagers staring at her in awe.

Kaede smiled and picked up on her confusion. "You were much missed, Kagome."

At the hut, there was a simple exchange of small talk before getting down to business ("How were your finals, Lady Kagome?" "I dunno…" "OI! It has been a month! Can we cut out all the freaking jibber-jabber?"). The team had been more productive than Kagome imagined, following the remaining local rumors and collecting four jewel shards. Miroku gently handed these to her ("It really is lovely to see you again, Lady Kagome." "Save it, monk.") It seemed the remaining shards were far, far away, those that had been flung the farthest on that fateful day. They would be traveling for three days on Hachi's back to find the last shards of the jewel. And in a whirlwind of sound and fury they were in the air with Inuyasha spread out in typical fashion at front, separated at the head. Kagome attempted to catch up with Sango, but her answers came in short bursts leading nowhere.

Miroku and Inuyasha exchanged glances, but it was Shippo who bounced up and filled the air with a non-stop, nonsensical babble. Despite numerous warnings from Inuyasha (then Miroku, Sango, Hachi, and even Kagome) this block of words seemed to break the tension.

So she thought. But that tension was there as they sat around the dim fire eating the ramen she had brought. And as she slurped her shrimp-flavored noodles she didn't know how much longer she could take the "discreet" looks being shot across the fire so she slammed down her empty bowl and said:

"All right."

The silence stopped. All eyes turned to her.

"Someone needs to tell me what has happened. I know you guys are avoiding something."

The silence returned. Inuyasha and Miroku looked away, so it was Sango who spoke up.

"Kohaku is dead."

She could literally feel the air rushing out of her. "Oh, Sango, I'm so so sorry. I didn't know. Are you okay? What…"

And there that question hung there with the "happened?" still tucked away on the back of her tongue.

"A priest in a village found him and recognized Kohaku for…for what he was. We were too late."

"Sango, I'm sorry."

Sango looked away, sniffling. "It's okay. The priest was sorry, and he gave me the body to bury. He has rejoined our family at the village, and he's finally at peace. And, well, we have the shard and Naraku can't have him anymore."

Inuyasha mumbled something, lost to Kagome beneath the crackling of the fire. Sango heard it.

"What."

Cold, barely a question. Kagome flashed back to the first time she saw Sango, saw that for just an instant across her face before it regained its stone composure.

Inuyasha was trying to work his way back without losing any footing. "It was…something like this was bound to happen eventually and we should be glad he died so quick and not all drawn out and…we got the shard, so it turned out well."

"Turned out well?" Kagome was wrong, the tension had only grown. And then, Sango chuckled. Kagome could feel it coming.

"Inuyasha, why don't you tell Kagome what else has happened since she left?"

The indifferent attitude, the slacker posture, dropped. "Shut up."

_That possessiveness, it can't be…_

"Oh, yes, it wasn't too long after my brother's quick, fortunate death that Kikyo came and announced her loyalty to Naraku. Though I guess it was bound to happen eventually."

"You shut up about her!" Inuyasha on his feet, Sango following.

_The cold…it still runs so deep._

"I know plenty. She's working with Naraku who killed my entire village and you let her escape! You betrayed us for her!"

"You don't know Kikyo! You shut the fuck up about her, Sango! This isn't your business."

"Isn't my business? Let me tell you something, Inuyasha…"

Shippo hiding behind her back. Miroku, on his feet asking them both to sit down, asking Inuyasha to take his hand off of Tetsusaiga. Kagome barely registered she was standing too, mumbling slow, soft words with her hands outstretched.

_Shhhhhhh…Shush._

But Inuyasha and Sango were still yelling and Inuyasha was trying to reach across to her, growling, and Miroku was barely able to keep them separated until he was yelling too and Tetsusaiga was drawn and Kirara transformed and Sango drew her sword and Miroku slammed his staff into the fire and screamed:

"ENOUGH!" The fire roared into the night and died, and in the vacuum Kagome heard herself say "please, stop" before she slammed her hand over her mouth, surprised at the sound of her voice.

"Now, this last month has been stressful, and reliving it, well, Kagome needed to know and now she does. So both of you can put away your weapons we can go to bed. Inuyasha. Inuyasha!" Here, at long last, he sheathed Tetsusaiga. Kirara shrank down in a small blaze. "Inuyasha, you take first watch, and I'll take the next. Everyone else will go to bed."

Inuyasha mumbled and rolled his eyes, jumped over onto a low-hanging branch and turned away. Sango curled up into a blanket the farthest away she could be, and Miroku whipped out his bedding before finally slumping down. Kagome lay in the middle, Shippo squeezed to her chest, waiting.

Her eyes were half-closed but she fought it, staring at his turned back. _He'll say something…_And she laid there until she couldn't even feel sleep approaching anymore, couldn't feel her eyes closing, waiting for the softer mummer of her name, his explanation, the slightest lightening of her pain, the return to the balance between them.

The only word spoken was his name by Miroku, saying they were switching shifts. Then the normal "meh", the crack of the fire as Miroku rebuilt it, her name…

Kagome's eyes flew open. Miroku was looking over his shoulder at her, smiling sadly. "There's no use pretending. I can tell you're awake."

"I…can't sleep." She unwound her legs from the blanket and wrapped it around Shippo before plopping down next to Miroku. "It's a big change, being here after a month in modern times. I guess I'll just need some time to readjust." She ended with a big smile, it feely sickly sweet on her face.

"Yes, I suppose you will need some time."

The fire ate the twigs as Miroku tossed them in, snapping and folding under the pressure.

"Things have been strained here, since you left."

"Yeah, I noticed."

Shippo moaning and tossing. The soft breaths of Inuyasha and Sango.

"She has been very removed since her brother's death. The priest though Kohaku a demon, so the body was cut up pretty badly from the fight. We arrived right before they burned it…the body. The villagers were sorry, but the damage was done."

"Oh."

"I can't seem to reach her, she barely talks now. I though you might, but she didn't open up to you, so."

The hoot of a bird. Somewhere, a twig snaps. In the fire. Sparks flare up and light their faces. Hers is turned away.

"Only one of the shards was from a demon. Kikyo gave us the other two, to show she was done with us. She said there were no shards around anymore, to come out to the edges and fight her for the last of them."

"Oh."

A light snore. _I thought it wouldn't hurt this much anymore._

"I guess things have been all shook up since I was gone."

Miroku looked at her. Slowly, she brought her eyes back to him. "Yes, yes they have. There is one more thing, Lady Kagome."

She giggled. It was that or let the pain held in her throat rise out of her. "Lady Kagome? Look who's all serious all of the sudden."

A small smile on his face, soon gone, replaced with a familiar look.

"Naraku hasn't attacked us at all while you were gone. Not him or one of his minions or even rumors. Not even a trace of his aura. And once I thought about it, he has never attacked us while you were gone. Except when Inuyasha was hurt, but that time was unique."

She remembered him hugging her, the shove, and then hurried look on his face as he had ran back to her in the well, the joy in her voice, in her heart, to see him.

One tear fell onto her lap. Another. A pause as the fire popped and then a third.

"With everything that has been happening, it's just had me wondering if Naraku doesn't have something going on, another plan." He looked over at her, and then quickly looked away.

Kagome scrunched up her shirt cuff and brought it to her eyes. She cursed herself for crying in front of him.

A warm weight on her shoulder.

"I know things are a bit confusing right now, but they'll get better. Inuyasha will come around and Sango, once she's had some time to grieve, she'll be okay too. And everything will go back to normal."

He squeezed her shoulder lightly. Kagome sniffled, wiped at her eyes, and smiled. "Thank you, Miroku."

He paled, surprised for a second, and then smiled back at her. The hand continued squeezing, then patting, and then messaging in small circles.

"Miroku," she said, struggling to keep her light heart out of her voice.

"I thought we might want to break some of this tension clouding our auras, Lady Kagome."

She shrugged his hand off. "I'm going to bed."

"That's my sentiments exactly."

"_Goodnight_, Miroku." She turned quickly, hoping her voice sounded stern. She could hear him chuckling as she climbed under the blanket and quickly fell asleep.

The two days passed, and Kagome was glad enough for that. She could barely get a word out of Sango, and Inuyasha hadn't said anything but grunted orders since the fire on the first night. Miroku and Kagome attempted to fill up the void with words, and when they ran out Shippo would pick up the slack, spurting out anything he noticed or thought, or offering the small distraction of a new picture or bubbles. On the third day the silence was filled out of necessity. The land looked familiar, but every now and again there would be the strange surprise of a unique fern, foreign herb, or radiant flower. Discussion was warranted now. No one was sure on which way to go.

"Well, there is supposed to be a town in the direction of the bear being plagued by a demon with three shards in its left arm."

"Screw that. Naraku is supposed to be hiding out in a castle in another day's travel towards those mountains."

"Do you feel an aura?"

"No, but…"

"We don't want to waste time on unaccredited rumors of Naraku."

"Oh, so we should instead waste our time on unaccredited rumors of jewel shards?"

"No, we should…"

"Quiet."

Smoke was pluming on the horizon. Inuyasha growled.

"Town's on fire. I smell a demon."

Almost on cue, the quintessential villager ran out and clung to Inuyasha, covered in ash and smelling so strongly of death Inuyasha was taken aback. Kagome already knew what would happen. Fight fire, bury bodies, hunt demon, kill demon, receive lead to Naraku, battle Naraku, and yell as Naraku escapes.

After spending so much time in the Feudal Era, Kagome could feel these events being continually reincarnated.

There was a slight tingle at the back of her neck, though. Kagome looked up and reassessed the man, still clinging with one hand to Inuyasha, sprouting the expected demon-attack gibberish. The other arm was reaching into his obi, and Kagome almost had time to get a word out as he drew out a clay sphere and smashed it against Inuyasha's chest.

A flash of light.

Muhaha. A cliff-hanger. I hope you have enjoyed so far, and I hope it wasn't too rushed. This chapter was originally going to be twice as long, but I thought it better to break it up. Those of you boiling over with rage at the treatment of your favorite character, please show some trust in me. Everything is for a reason, and the ending will make everything better. I have this story outlined pretty well, so I should be able to update every week, or at least every two weeks. If I've made a mistake or you have a complaint please tell me, as well as giving me any suggestions (although I do know where I'm going, so I don't know if I can take them all). Please review, even if only to say you are enjoying/hating the story. Authors (or at least writers on FanFiction) eat that stuff up/it makes them want to not exist. I hope that your decision to click on my story and read down all the way to here has made you happy. Till I see you next time,

BottleofJellyBeans

P.S. Review? Pretty please?


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